Francesinha Sauce
A rich, spicy tomato-beer sauce
Servings 6 cups
Calories 200kcal
Ingredients
- 2 TB bacon grease. Sure, we could have used olive oil or butter, but we want this sauce meaty, right?
- 12 chicken wing tips The tips are full of fat and cartilage, which will add meatiness without adding meat
- 2 or 3 small onions diced
- 2 or 3 small carrots shredded (extra flavor? why not!)
- 4-6 cloves of garlic I used 2 enormous cloves that were the equivalent of 6 normal ones
- 2-3 bay leaves
- 28 oz can whole tomatoes I used my favorite everyday brand of canned tomatoes here, but I kind of wish I’d gone even fancier. Use good ones, regardless.
- 1 cup chicken stock more meatiness
- a couple dashes of fish sauce more umami
- 1 tallboy of beer You only need 12oz though. I used High Life
- 1 oz good whiskey Or as many ounces as the cook needs. I used Elijah Craig bourbon
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
- 1/2 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 TBSP piri piri sauce I used Nando’s–it’s a Portuguese restaurant, right?
- 1/4 cup milk
- 2 TB corn starch
Instructions
- Melt the bacon fat in a big pan. Brown the wings in the bacon fat. We’re doubling down on the meatiness here.
- Add the onions and carrots. Saute with the wings until the onions are translucent
- Add the garlic and bay leaves, sautee briefly but do not burn the garlic
- Add the tomatoes, Mash them with a potato masher. Cook down slowly. Add a little water to keep it from drying out if you need to.
- Remove from heat. Let cool a bit. Remove chicken wing tips when you can do it without burning yourself.
- Heat again. Add chicken stock, 12oz or so of the beer (I’ll let you figure out what to do with the rest) and a couple dashes of fish sauce.
- Use immersion blender to smooth the sauce
- Cook down a bit longer. Add white pepper, coriander, salt, piri piri sauce, and whiskey. Let it evaporate for a few minutes
- Whisk corn starch into milk until smooth. While stirring, add the mixture to the pot.
- Simmer until desired thickness is reached.